In total, 26 million pounds (11.8 kilograms) of steel will be recycled from the main span and bridge approaches.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt opened the original structure in 1939.

The new bridge, which spans Brooklyn and Queens, opened to traffic in April. A second span will be finished in 2020.

Once the project is fully completed, the Queens-bound bridge will carry five lanes of traffic, and the Brooklyn-bound bridge will carry four lanes. A 20-foot-wide (6 meter) bikeway-walkway will offer what Gov. Andrew Cuomo's offices describes as "spectacular views of Manhattan."

The bridge's name honors Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a military engineer from Poland who came to fight for the independence of the American colonies.

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This story has been corrected to show the length of the span is 300 feet, not 125 feet.